NFL: Baltimore Ravens’ Justin Tucker signs record deal | Sports

No one earns more in this position |

Record contract for NFL kickers

New contract for Justin Tucker (32)!

Kicker extended early to 2027 with the Baltimore Ravens. Tucker now earns the equivalent of about $5.5 million per season, according to ESPN. NFL record! The new contract makes Tucker the top earner in his position.

The 32-year-old is considered one of the most reliable kickers in the NFL. He converts an insane 99 percent of his extra point attempts. And over 91 percent of his field goal attempts! League Best.

Tucker also holds the record for the longest field goal in NFL history when he hit the football from 66 yards between the posts in the game against the Detroit Lions last season.

Kickers are the top scorers in the NFL. In last season’s points list, only 13th place is a player who plays in a different position (Austin Ekeler, running back of the Los Angeles Chargers). Nevertheless, kickers have a difficult time with the fans.

They regularly decide on victory or defeat – and often at the last second, when the clock runs out. However, field goals and extra points are not nearly as spectacular as, for example, touchdown passes.

Coaches and fans expect every extra point and field goal to be converted. If a kicker doesn’t hit, there’s a high risk of being sacked very quickly.

If you kick badly, you will be fired quickly

One bad game is enough, as Daniel Carlson found out in 2018. In the game against the Green Bay Packers, he missed three field goals. Instead of a win, the Minnesota Vikings only managed a draw, which is frowned upon in the NFL.

Minnesota fired Carlson a day later. Then-head coach Mike Zimmer called the decision “pretty easy.”

Daniel Carlson is currently a kicker for the Las Vegas Raiders

Photo: Ethan Miller/AFP

Former NFL coach Buddy Ryan († 82) once said: “Kickers are like taxis. You can always order a new one.”

That doesn’t apply to Justin Tucker! The Ravens kicker is considered a candidate for the “Hall of Fame”, the hall of fame of the NFL.

When asked about this, he once said: “I don’t think about that. Always nice one kick after the other. That’s what my agent advised me while he was standing next to my grandfather while I was auditioning for a high school. My grandfather used to say, ‘Justin, kick the damn ball!’”

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